Casey Hargis and his bad to da bone FJ40.

This truck was a shell of its former self. Rust holes everywhere, we started from
scratch on this one and went full bore.

Just scratching the surface so to speak

We cut out all the rusted metal we could find back to the fresh metal and
started the long process of welding in custom cut pieces to fit the folds and
contours of the late model tub as best we could. Casey got a couple of
floor pans that made the work a bit easier but they still didnt fit without
cutting and forming.

Here you can see some of the floor work coming together. We chose to
Tig because we wanted flushed welds for ease of grinding later.

UGH! looking back on this now I see all the work that went into this truck.
It kills me when I find 3/4 inch of bondo on a truck......hammer and dolly
people....You can see the liner going on the tub in the last few pics....we do
most of our trucks inside and underneath to provide the most protection possible
but its important that you treat/repair/grind out any rust you find before doing
this.

After prepping the metal with a hammer and dolly we grind out the old bondo
left and then smooth on fiber hair because its quite strong as a foundation for
any smoothing done by layers of glazing putty or body filler later. Re
seam seal the body panels and do an epoxy coat of primer wait a day or so...wet
sand and do a grey primer coat...wait....wet sand and prep for the finish coat.
I painted the firewall to be able to place the tub on the frame for painting
later. Door bottoms...yay!

Here's a few pics of some of the other things we did while the body was being
worked....Spring over cuts and redos, Non American 4 spd and Orion Tcase
get together, rollcage going together, disc brakes being
assemble and the high steer power steering being fitted on.

The frame going together with the finished axles and the engine and tranny
being installed.....note the tape its a tease on something cool later on.

Here's an example of why you bring you stuff to me....This is a 3FE system
going on to a 2F block. I stripped the ECM wiring down and rewired and
relocated components such that it was essentially stock. I planned out the
locations for the necessary components to provide stock functions for the engine
management system and lengthened, cut, rerouted wires accordingly.

Here you can see some of the link work. We decided on something
simple to curtail the spring wrap for the back axle.

Casey decided to add rear disc brakes late in the process and so we
upgraded the booster and master cylinder. Here you can also see the
finished product of the floor restoration and the final stance of the truck.
BigHead approves.